Climax, Part 3

"What…do you mean…?" I nervously ask.

"Well I suppose I should introduce myself, this may seem confusing to you…" my dad sighs as he turns away from me and punches the bridge of my nose. My dad then turns back to me with a warm smile. "So you know how Pestilence is oftentimes possessed by his demon instinct to kill?" My dad asks me.

"Well I'm the personification of those emotions!" My dad answers as he spreads his arms out wide to his sides. "I'm Conquest…nice to meet you!"

My eyes widen.

Me and my Blue Demon…dad and Conquest…we're the same. I had no idea my dad was going through the same stuff that I went through…

"I'm your father Luis, not Pestilence," my dad, I mean-Conquest continues. God, this is just getting confusing now. "I won't go into any of the gory details in front of my son, but let's just say…Pestilence wasn't the one pumpin' that night!"

"What…do you mean?" I ask.

Conquest sighs, before bringing his right pointer finger up and pointing it to the hole he created with his left hand by pinching his pointer finger and thumbs. "I suppose you are at that age," Conquest continues. "So when a daddy and a mommy really love each other, they-" Conquest begins to say, but I cut him off.

"I KNOW THAT!" I snap. "How the Hell are you my dad?! It's Pestilence!"

"Well just look at yourself, Luis!" Conquest laughs as he spreads his arms out to his sides. "Look at your half-demon form! It's blue and white, like me, not green and purple, like Pestilence. And I'll give you another hint: Extend-o-Sword is my Cursed Ability, not his. And I don't see you using Poison Pores now, do ya'?"

I pause.

"So you're the one responsible for my dad leaving…you're the one who torments him…you're the one who forces him to kill his family…" I growl.

Conquest puts a hand to his chin and thinks for a few moments. "Hmm…not exactly," he answers. Conquest then removes his hand from his chin and turns back to face me. "I like to think of myself as the real Pestilence. I'm more similar to who Pestilence was before he became "human" than Luis Tramontana is."

I don't respond to Conquest. Instead, I slowly begin approaching him.

Seeing this, Conquest spreads his arms out wide to his sides with a beaming smile. "Aww, are you looking to give your dear ol' daddy a hug?" He asks.

I stop once I'm standing in front of Conquest, and stare up at him.

"Give him back…" I growl. "GIVE MY DAD BACK!"

With a roar, I bring my katana high into the air and clutch it tightly between both of my hands while preparing a Wind Blade, before swinging my katana down, causing Conquest's warm smile to melt into a frown.

"You should know better than to strike your own father," Conquest replies as he brings a hand up, stopping my Wind Blade.

All with a single finger.

My eyes widen.

"I thought you and I could reconcile, Luis, father to son and you can join the Four Horsemen with I, but it seems…that Pestilence has already corrupted you," Conquest sighs. "Despite having our superior demon genes, you're more human than you are demon."

"And for that…I must kill you."

In the blink of an eye, Conquest draws his katana and reinforces it with his dark- blue and silver Cursed Power, swinging it towards me while extending the blade of his katana, slashing me with it and sending me flying backwards, landing on the ground dozens of feet away, and forcing me out of my Blue Demon form.

"Conquest…extending the blade of his katana so much farther and faster than dad and I ever could…" I grunt as I push myself up to my feet. "Conquest…may be so infinitely stronger than dad…"

"So you survived…" Conquest says to himself.

"If Extend-o-Sword is your Cursed Ability…then how can my dad use it?" I ask.

"While yes, Extend-o-Sword is the Cursed Ability of my soul while Poison Pores is the Cursed Ability of Pestilence's soul, since we share a body, our body has grown adept at wielding both Cursed Ability, so thus…both Pestilence and I can wield one another's Cursed Ability," Conquest explains as he holds a hand up, poison gas seeping out of Conquest's pores and swirling around his hand.

Slowly, Mikey pushes himself off of the ground and ignites his right hand on fire, aiming it at Pestilence. "Why I outta'..." Mikey growls.

"What, back for more?" Conquest smirks as he turns to face Mikey, aiming the tip of his katana at him.

"Calm down!" Death orders as he jumps in front of Mikey and Conquest, holding a hand out to the two. "We're not here to fight, we're here to make peace!"

"Whatever…" Mikey grumbles as his Flames of Destruction extinguish.

"So, Conquest, what do you say?" Death asks as he turns to face Conquest with a smile, holding a hand out to the demon. "Care to join the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, to take down the Slayer Organization and become the true rulers of Earth, once and for all?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Conquest cries. "I was planning on joining you the second that I was "born" and read Pestilence's memories." Conquest's lips curl up into a sinister smirk as he takes Death's hand with a mighty shake. Death and Conquest then lower their hands, as they turn to face me, War, Famine, and Mikey as well. The five demons stare me down.

Death the Demon King.

War the Calamity.

Famine the Consumer.

Mikey, my ex-rival and greatest enemy.

And now…Conquest, the man responsible for ruining my life.

Under the presence of Mikey and these four mighty demons I feel small, smaller than I've ever felt before. Smaller than I felt against Daniel, against King, against August, and even against Ace. I've never felt smaller.

Sharp bones begin rising out of the ground around Death.

War punches her fists together, forming Invincisphere bubbles around each hand. 

Famine's fingers turn into tentacles, and slither around her.

Black Flames of Destruction engulf Mikey's entire body.

And Conquest…Conquest aims the blade of my father's own katana at me.

And while Mikey and these four demons aren't using Cursed Power Burst, I can feel their intent to kill…their bloodlost oozing out of each pore of their body, within each molecule of their Cursed Abilities.

All directed towards me.

Yet even still…I find the strength to push myself off of the ground, like I do time and time again.

"So you can still stand?" Death asks me. "But why? Why do you keep fighting, when the odds are stacked against you like this? It's five on one now, Blue Demon. You're all alone. Your friend has joined us, and your father is no more. Your allies are all off fighting their own battles, and your friends are dead. The Slayer Organization's forces have dwindled greatly, yet all Four…now five of the Horsemen still stand. It is only you, Blue Demon. You versus us."

"But I'm not alone…" I grunt, as I manage to bring myself to my feet at last. I pant heavily as I stare down my four opponents. My vision is fading and I can hardly stand. I'm woozy from bloodlust, and I can feel dozens of broken bones scattered across my entire body. I've fought too much this war…and my battles are catching up with me. The inmates…Anger…Violence…the Five Horsemen…I still have so many opponents that I need to defeat.

"Even if they're not by my side right now…I can feel them," I continue. "Ella unconscious over there, and everyone else fighting their own battles: Grover, Jamie, Austin, Daniel, Jay, Lycan, Ralph, Ivy, my mom, Gabby, Mr. Kittles, Robby…and Nick. They may not be physically behind me…but they're in my court! And as long as they're on my side, they'll give me the strength to defeat you now!"

Summoning every ounce of my final bit of strength…I aim the tip of my katana at the Five Horsemen, which glistens under the rising sun.

"I'M NOT ALONE ANYMORE!"

"Let me tell you, the kind of opponents that you're facing, the man that your father once was. Maybe that will finally scare you off," Death replies. "Have you ever heard of "eaters," Blue Demon?"

"Um…no…" I answer.

"Figures," Death sneers. "Well, as you know, in this world, there are two main types of demons; weak, monstrous demons, and strong, humanoid demons. But what if I were to tell you that all demons are born weak? Strong demons aren't born strong. Instead, strong demons are "created" when a demon who's too weak to kill and eat humans, becomes desperate on the brink of starvation, and instead commits cannibalism, and kills and consumes its demon comrades. Demons get stronger the more cannibalism they commit. And once you've had a taste, you can't get enough. That's how strong demons are born. That's also how Cursed Abilities are created as well, an amalgamation of Cursed Power all brewed together in one stomach. War, Famine, your father, and myself…we all started off weak. But then…how did we take the form of humans? Well I'll tell you. While yes, human beings are our natural food source, it's not the only reason we consume them. All living organizations crave knowledge and intelligence. And the way for us low-intellect demons to obtain that…is to eat humans. By eating humans…we become more humanoid ourselves, taking on a human form and human intelligence. And for some of us…human emotions," Death continues as he motions to Conquest (but referring to my dad, of course). "So there you have it. By eating our own kind then consuming humans…that is how the four demons standing before you were born."